Quick - Easy - AND Inexpensive!

I've had a lot of fun this week making a few boxes of gift cards that I'll be using for Christmas gifts. It's a really quick and inexpensive gift...and besides...everyone needs a card occasionally. I wanted to show you a couple of the boxes that I've made this week. I plan to make several more of these in the next few weeks.

The first set is the Christmas card gift pack. The card box will hold five cards and five envelopes easily. The cards were quick and easy to make and I really loved how they turned out. I used plain white cardstock (like from the office supply store). I cut each 8.5 x 11 sheet in half crosswise, which gave me two cards from each sheet of cardstock that measure 4.25 x 5.5 inches.

(BTW...I recently purchased a Scor-Pal...and it was perfect for this project, although not necessary)

For each of the cards, I stamped the Christmas design in black ink in the corner of the card and then added a word phrase approximately 1/2 inch from the edge of the card. Using template (cut it the same size as the card front, then cut a rectangle from the middle leaving 1/2 inch on each edge) or use the Tim Holtz zero center ruler. Using the ruler, I drew a solid black line 1/2 inch from the edge of the card. When I came to a spot that was stamped...I just skipped over it and resumed my line on the other side of the stamped image.

This next set of cards is a set of all occasion cards that I did the same way. The possibilities are endless...and honestly, they're just darn cute!

Now, here's the pattern for the adorable little box. (I must insert here, that this is not my original idea, I saw one at Splitcoast Stampers and I've tweeked it for my use.)

You will need an 8.5 x 11 sheet of cardstock (paper won't work for this part - it must be cardstock).

1. On the 11 side, score the cardstock at 3 1/4", 3 3/4" and then at 8 1/4" and 8 3/4 "

2. On the 8.5 inch side score the paper at 3/4", 1 1/4" and then at 7 1/4" and 7 3/4"

3. Cut the flaps as shown in this photo - by cutting away where the black is.

4. The shorter end at the top is the flap of the envelope box. You might want to round the corners on that and on the side tabs that fold in.

5. Fold on all scored lines.

6. Use very stick double sided tape to adhere the bottom flap to the tabs that fold in. (it folds just like an envelope.)

7. Decorate as desired. I used a small magnet under the flap and on the envelope to snap the box closed, but you could use ribbon adhered with brads to tie it together or a small piece of velcro on each side.

Use your imagination..and remember...it's QUICK, EASY, and INEXPENSIVE! (And it makes a great gift!)

I'd love to see what you make, so be sure to let me know when you try it. If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask me!

Hugs!

Guest Designer for My Creative Scrapbook - October

I'm a little late getting this posted, but here's my work as guest designer for My Creative Scrapbook using October's Main Kit. Beautiful Webster's Pages. Our work from the main kit is featured on the Webster's Pages blog too.

I distressed the light blue made and added a small scalloped border with my scallop scissors. I cut the designs in the paper so that I could slide my photo and mats behind the designs. Added a little faux stitching. The photo is behind an oval I cut with my scalloped scissors and then I added the three dimensional dots around the oval. Needless to say, this is a very old photo and was encased in a black and very stiff cardboard oval frame, so I had to scan it and then use the photo in it's oval shape. I cut out a couple of butterflies from the patterned paper and the larger butterfly is a MS punch that I coated with stickles. Journaling is tucked behind the mat and reads:

This is a photo of my (Great) Uncle Sidney McDowell. Sidney was born on May 5, 1892. I’m not sure how old he was in this photo, but I believe it was made in the late 1898 or 1899. He was my Grandmother Pace’s younger brother (Grandma Perdue’s Uncle). I think he was a very handsome young man, and I just fell in love with this photo the first time I saw it.

Some photos I took last year of my handsome little grandson, Adam. I used the Fiskars scalloped punch for the edges of the border. The butterflies were cut from another piece of paper and layered over butterflies on this paper for a 3-D look. I added a little sparkle to the butterflies with some stickles. Also used the apron punch for the border on the large blue mat. The bird was also cut from a piece of the paper and added to the layout with pop dots. Added some doodling, and the journaling around the frame reads: May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back, may the sun shine down upon your face, and the rain fall softly on your fields, and until we meed again, may God hold you in the hollow of his hands. ~Irish Blessing

This is a photo of my older brother when he was just a month or two old. I used a MS lacy scallop punch for the border, and my scallop scissors around the photo. I added lots of distressing and inking. Then I added some small flower buds and some punched flowers to the swirl bling. Journaling is tucked behind the big mat and reads:

This is my brother, Randy, when he was about 2 months old (probably in January 1950). He didn’t get to be the baby of the family for very long, because I was born just a year and three days after him. Although we don’t see each other very often now, when we were children, I was often his shadow.

My DGD, Helen Grace - picking flowers in my flowerbed! I used my scalloped scissors on the burgandy strip and around the oval cameo. I threaded cardstock through the ribbon that was included in the kit. Faux stitching was added to the scalloped edge of the large mat. The well was cut from another piece of the paper included in the kit. I made this card from scraps I had left over from the kit this month. Super simple card and it works up really quickly!

NOW....here's a little tutorial for making this cute card. Cut card stock 5 1/2 inches by 12 inches.

Using a bone folder or a scoring tool, score the card (on the dotted lines) at 2", 4", 8", and 10". Then cut the card on the solid lines (lengthwise) from the 2" scored line to the 10" scored line. Cut both solid lines this way. Then fold the card on the scored lines in a fan fold (first one way then the other).

Then...fold the middle section opposite the top and bottom sections. Like the finished card above. Decorate as desired. I used an oval shape on the front that I stamped a simple little flower on. Then backed the oval with some of the base card stock and trimmed it with my scalloped scissors. To dress it up a bit, I added dots on each of the scallops with some gold 3D paint. The butterfly was cut from the patterned paper and highlighted with a little glitter, then adhered with foam tape for dimension.

The sentiment inside is also on an oval circle...Happy Birthday is stamped and then I inked the edges to give it some definition. Adding doodling is always a nice touch. I also used my paper piercer to punch holes around the patterned paper that would be the "front" of the card when folded...give a really cool look!

Thanks so much for stopping by. If you make a card, be sure to let me know, so I can check it out! As always...love to hear from you.

Hugs!!

Guest Designing for My Creative Scrapbook

I had to step down from my DT spot with My Creative Scrapbook in January. Sometimes life gets in the way of fun things! I've really missed playing with all the wonderful kits that Pam sends out each month. Pam invited me to be a guest designer for My Creative Scrapbook for the Month of October. The reveal will be on Monday, October 5, but here's a little sneak peek of what I did this month. I'll be back next week to post the layouts. I really enjoyed playing with all the pretty papers and embellies included in the Main Kit. Here's your little peek: Lots of pretties this month! Be sure to check back next week!

Until next week...signing off....

Guest Design for Scrapbuck

I was recently asked to be a guest designer for Scrapbuck - an online store where most products are $1.00. Here's what I created with the fabulous supplies I received: This is a photo I took of my Grandson, Jacob. My daughters and I took all the grandchildren out to the country. They were all dressed in denim and white. We had no particular destination in mind when we started out, we were just looking for a nice setting to take some photos. When we passed this farm, I thought it looked perfect for our photo shoot. So....we just stopped, walked up to the door and asked permission from the sweet little lady who lived there, grabbed our camera and headed out to the field! A really fun photo shoot!

In April, I went to a scrapbooking retreat in Flowery Branch, Georgia for the weekend. One of our online friends had put the weekend getaway together for all of us. This little group shot was taken after a full day of scrappy shopping. Looks like we are all exhausted! LOL! It was a great weekend and I think all of us had a great time. Now I'm looking forward to getting together with these girls again ..... I think! LOL!

Thanks for stopping by...and check out Scrapbuck when you get a chance.

A Perfect Photo Corner - Every Time!

I know it's been a while since I last posted...but sometimes, life just gets BUSY! I've been meaning to do this little tutorial for a while...so here goes... To make these photo corners, you'll need cardstock or paper of your choice, scissors, a trimmer, some adhesive, and I sometimes use a bone folder (depending on how thick the paper/cardstock is. You will be cutting squares, so the larger the square, the larger the photo corner. For my examples, I cut several 2 inch squares and one 3 inch square. One way to use a bone folder is to align your opposing corners along the cutting groove in the trimmer and drag the bone folder down the grove. Some trimmers come with a scoring blade and that can be used as well. You will need to score your square from corner to corner - making and "X" design on the paper. You can also do this by just folding the corners together and making a nice crisp edge on the fold with your fingers. Once you have the "X" shape, take your scissors and cut out ONE of the triangles. It doesn't really matter which one, they're all the same.

Once you've cut the ONE triangle out, simply fold the two edges on either side to the back and you've formed a little "pocket" that will slide over the corner of your photo. BUT...before you adhere the back pieces together, you might want to dress them up just a bit.

If you want to add a decorative edge - use your edge punches, decorative scissors, or you could simply tear a tiny bit off the edge. Here, I've used some scalloped scissors to cut out part of my corner on the white piece, and I used a Martha Stewart punch on the edge of the gingham piece. One REALLY important part of this step is to make SURE that you punch/cut the side opposite the cut out notch. That's the side that will be on the top of the photo. You might also want to add a little ink to the edges or doodle on the front of the photo corner before glueing the two back edges together. I've added a little doodling to the examples below.

So...now you have the finished project. I just put the different corners on the photo so you could get an idea how they might look. Dress them up or tone them down...it really depends on the look you're going for. Once you've decided where your photo will be on the layout, then all you have to do is put some adhesive on the back of each photo corner and place it on the page. This is really a good way to add photos to a page that you might not want to put adhesive on the actual photo (especially if it is a vintage photo).

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and find it useful. If you find this to be helpful, stop by and let me know. I always enjoy hearing from you! Happy Scrapping!

TUTORIAL - HOW TO JOURNAL IN A CIRCLE

I've had several people ask how to print journaling in a circle, so I thought I’d try to give you a short and hopefully, simple tutorial. I am working in Microsoft Word 2007, but I believe the same features are available in previous versions of Word. 1. In word, open a new document. 2. Click on insert – Word Art – then choose any of the examples shown. For my example I’ve chosen the last on the right – top row. 3. Once you have selected the “style” a new screen will pop up. This is where you will type your journaling and select your font and font size. I’ve used the default font and font size.

4. Click OK and the journaling will be placed in your document and looks like this:

5. In the WordArt Styles section there is an “A” with a drop down box on the right. Click on the down arrow and you will get a selection of styles to chose from. Click on the circle and then grab a corner of the box and drag out your circle. (You may have to play with this part in order to get a true circle) It helps if you have your rulers turned on so that you can see the size of the circle as you stretch out the circle.

6. This is what it will look like when you've selected the circle: Then grab the lower right corner box of the journaling frame and drag it out into a circle.

7. This is your completed “circle journaling” :

8. On this same Word Art format screen, click on: text wrapping - behind text. You’ll notice the little “anchor” on the upper left.

9. Once you have selected the “behind text” and have the little anchor in the upper left corner, those of you who are a little more industrious can add a second circle of journaling inside or outside this one. Here’s all you do. 10. Go back to step 2 and begin again. You will follow all of the same steps. Once you select behind text again, you can move the new circle inside/or outside the first circle.

11. To change the font color, you must select one circle at a time. There are two drop down selections in the WordArt Styles box. One has a pencil on it and the other a paint bucket. Set both to the same color and your journaling will be all one color. The pencil is the “outline” of the letter, and the bucket is the color of the letter.

So, I hope these are easy to follow. My apologies for the quality of my screen photos. I know they aren't the best, but I couldn't get a screen print of each step in my blog entry for some reason, so I resorted to taking a photo of each screen.

After you do it a time or two, it's really not that many steps. I was just trying to take photos of each thing that I did so that it would be (hopefully) a little easier to follow. If you have question, please let me know and I'll help any way I can. I've also saved this as a word document if you would like me to email it to you. Just let me know.

Be sure to let me know if you try it. I'd love to see your layout!

Hugs!

Susan

.....Priceless

This is a quick layout that I did a few weeks ago. I wanted to make sure we remembered this fun adventure. Doesn't the swing set look great? It was my idea to put a swing set up in the backyard for the grandchildren. You see, when they all came over to play, there was nothing to do at Grandma's house (except run circles around the pool!). None of the kids are allowed to go in the backyard without an adult, because of the pool. So, that's why I decided we needed a swing set. My husband and I have "discussed" this idea for a couple of years now. Guess who won?!? LOL!! One beautiful Saturday morning in March, I asked my son to go with me to Lowe's to look at swing sets. I thought they would probably cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $400. As you can see my this layout....I was WAY off!!! The checkout clerk at Lowe's graciously accepted my $985 and we headed home with the five BOXES of parts Once we got home with it, and opened a few boxes, I asked my son, " how long do you think it will take us to put this together?" He said, "I think we'll probably finish by 7:oo tonight." bwahahaha!!!! TEN THOUSAND pieces and 3 weeks later...we FINALLY got this (wonderful) swing set together! (I would also like to point out that the directions for this set comes in 4 or 5 different languages - including English - but in general, it was like reading GREEK to me! Plus, if you buy one of these, make SURE to throw away all languages by yours!!!!) I can't tell you how many times I tried to "read" the Spanish version! I was so anxious to see the kids playing on it...now WHY didn't we think to get THREE swings??? I must admit, they really seem to enjoy climbing up to the "fort" on the rock wall, and sliding down the slide. They've even been trying to learn to swing themselves. Just last week, Allen and Jacob were headed out to the swing set, and I asked if they were going to the fort for a "powwow". Allen asked, "what is a powwow?". I explained it to him and he headed off to catch up with Jacob, yelling..."come on, Jacob! We're going to the fort and have a bow wow!" Cracked me up!!! Yep! It's a very entertaining toy...the kids love it...almost as much as they love running around the pool! Thanks for stopping by.... Hugs! Susan